Your Opinions Wanted on New York Regents Exams

In this article, game designer Sande Chen wonders if game-based learning and assessment can replace or supplement standardized tests.

The standard in assessment for high school students in New York, the Regents exams, are up for review this month. Educators, parents, students, and the general public can give their feedback on whether New York should change its graduation requirements at meetings in March across the state. Those who can't make the meetings can offer their opinion on the online survey here. Of concern is whether or not the New York Regents exams should be replaced or modified.

Do the Regents exams even reflect the 21st-Century skills students need? Some attendees at a recent meeting wondered if portfolios or projects can be submitted in lieu of standardized tests, but how can these be fairly assessed? Others wanted students to be more aware of the global community and civic participation, pointing out that compared to students of other countries, American students are sorely lacking. Most agreed that a change is needed.

The American education system is heavily invested in standardized tests. Faced with preparation for the onslaught of standardized tests, high school teachers tend to avoid game-based learning.

However, game-based learning can provide the answers on how to assess project-based curriculum. Though many educational games compromise and include quizzes or assignments, a well-designed learning game should be able to assess understanding through completion. What that means is that a student needs to learn the required material in order to complete the game.

Moreover, if the project is done through a simulation or a game, it can be more objectively compared to an ideal since the program will judge each project by the same guidelines. Imagine, if you will, a game like Kerbal Space Program, in which students will build rockets. Some students will have rockets that succeed and some students won't. Those that don't succeed will be inclined to build and build rockets until they have better rockets.

If the educator wants to highlight civics or the global community, a game that encourages social responsibility or citizen science can be chosen.

Through game-based learning, students learn about systems thinking. They learn to adapt to changing circumstances. They aren't memorizing facts to do well on tests. The skills they learn through game-based learning will help them in the workplace.

Sande Chen is the co-author of Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform. As a serious games consultant, she helps companies harness the power of video games for non-entertainment purposes. Her career as a writer, producer, and game designer has spanned over 15 years in the game industry. Her game credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus, MMO Hall of Fame inductee Wizard101, and the 2007 PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in Videogame Writing. She has been invited to the White House and has spoken at conferences around the globe, including the Game Developers Conference, Game Education Summit, SXSW Interactive, Serious Play Conference, and Games For Change Festival.